2015 Salmon Festival pier collapse
On 14 September 2015, 106 people were injured when a wooden pier at Mullion Marina in Mullion, Alum Chine, collapsed during the 2015 Salmon Festival. The pier, stretching out into the Cocoa River, was holding dozens of festivalgoers at the time of the collapse. Twelve people have remained missing since the collapse, the divers are searching the riverbed for potential remains. Due to the strong current, authorities warned that, in the event of there being fatalities, some bodies may never be found. Background Every September, the downstream sections of both the Cocoa River and the Clearwater River on the other side of Leeds Island jointly hold the Salmon Festival, by far the largest festival of the year across Newleaf Island. The festival marks the month in which salmon return to both river estuaries to breed after a year out at sea. Similar 'salmon homecoming' festivals are held most Septembers in G-Ville, Glendale, Home and Waterford. The festivals have branched out in recent years to include riverside music events, funfairs and other non-salmon related events; however, witnessing the salmon returning to the river remains a popular activity and the main focus of the festival. As such, the banks of the rivers - and particularly piers stretching out into them - become unusually busy during the month of September as festivalgoers try to catch a glimpse of the thousands of returning fish. The pier involved in the collapse was one of several wooden jetties at Mullion Marina, usually used to store and tie up recreational watercraft but opened up to festivalgoers during September, despite not being intended to hold large crowds of people. Collapse The entire length of the pier collapsed at 17:22 local time while it was holding around 400 people. The collapse of the shoreward section of the pier was captured on the CCTV camera outside a restaurant on the riverbank; foggy conditions obscured the rest of the pier. The collapse came around ten seconds after the far end of the pier was struck by a large cargo vessel, snapping the end of the pier away from its weak oak pilings on the riverbed and dragging it along. This caused the complete buckling of the centre section of the structure, which caused the whole pier to collapse within ten seconds of the collision taking place. Many people towards the landward end of the pier were unaware of the collision until the pier started to collapse due to the fog. Aftermath Police evacuated people from nearby piers and sealed off the area surrounding Mullion Marina following the collapse. Due to fears of a fuel leak from the crippled vessel, many festival-related activities on the river were immediately suspended and people were evacuated from the banks of the river. It was later confirmed that no such leak had occurred, and people were allowed to return to the riverbanks. Due to the incident, festival organisers brought day 14 of the event to a close earlier than scheduled. However, they confirmed that day 15 would likely go ahead largely as planned, upon the advice of police. All boat traffic in the section of the Cocoa River involved was suspended due to the foggy conditions and heightened risk of another serious collision, with the festival making the river much busier than usual. The river was reopened to all traffic when the fog cleared two hours after the pier's collapse. Injuries and missing 106 people were taken to hospital with injuries varying from minor to critical following the collapse. The six-man crew of the cargo vessel were hospitalised but later released with only minor injuries. Police confirmed at 19:00 in a press conference that five people had been reported missing following the pier collapse; a number they warned could rise. Divers had been sent in to search the riverbed for potential bodies following the collapse. The number of missing was increased to twelve the next day. Sinking of cargo vessel Efforts were made to stabilise the cargo vessel involved in the collision and prevent it from sinking. The collision had torn a huge gash in the starboard side of the vessel, flooding the lower cargo decks with water and causing the ship to immediately list by 45 degrees to port. Due to the increasing list of the ship, it was abandoned by it's crew of six around ten minutes after the collision, when the first emergency assistance had already arrived. Subsequent to being abandoned, the vessel continued to float downstream listing heavily to port. Despite efforts to right the ship, it sank onto its port side shortly after 22:00 after drifting 300 metres downstream into deeper water. Floating cranes are expected to be sent in to refloat the vessel within the next few days, as it poses a navigational hazard in the main shipping lane of the river.